Seth Stohs

I mean to be fair the high upside guys have moved up quicker. Several at AA are as young/younger than the Kernels starters. And, we'll see what happens. Hopefully one or two of these guys (all late-round college guys) take a good step forward. I don't think you'll see younger pitchers move up to Cedar Rapids. They have some more of last year's draft picks just working and waiting in EST still. Thorpe will likely get to an affiliate sometime in the near future. Lachlan Wells is 20 at High-A.

Regardless of which guy they take, I think it would be fun to see they play this summer in some strategic way so that they could DH when they aren't pitching. Something like, Start Day 1. Day 2 don't play. Day 3 and Day 4 - DH, Day 5 - don't play, Day 6 - pitch. (in a 6-man rotation, maybe they DH day 5 too.) I think that'd be fun for E-Town (for Greene) and Cedar Rapids (or Ft. Myers) for McKay. Also, I wonder how much they'll have them pitch this year anyway.

Not sure if you saw John Manuel's tweet earlier today explaining his article on Greene - where a lot of people said he wanted to play in San Diego (which I also don't blame him)

Kirilloff - Tommy John Arraez - knee

In reality, Stewart's troubles at the start of this season have had little (or nothing) to do with his low strikeout numbers in the past. It's clear from his starts that he just isn't throwing strikes and isn't commanding his pitches as he has in the past. Hopefully he can regain his control soon because the stuff is still really good.

Shortstop is a pretty solid position for the Twins. Polanco has definitely shown that he can do it, and he looks much more confident than last year, or even four or five weeks ago. Gordon's off to a fast start. Vielma is also playing really well. Palacios is absolutely on fire. And Wander Javier is sitting in Extended Spring Training.

In case you haven’t been following the Minnesota Twins to this point in the season, Byron Buxton has started the season really slowly. On Monday night in Texas, he went 0-2 with two walks and is now hitting just .105/.177/.140 (.318). There is really no way to sugarcoat those numbers. Nick wrote a bit about his struggles yesterday. While few have struggled to the level that Buxton has to start this season, there are a lot of hitters who are just not hitting to this point. Heading into play on Monday, 27 qualifying players (have 3.1 at bats per game their team plays for) had a batting average below .200. The average batting average in MLB was .241.There are six players in the big leagues who are 22 to 24 years old and hitting under .220 heading into Monday’s games. I thought it would be interesting to see if their teams have done anything about those players. Have they been demoted? Will they be demoted? Have they been moved in the lineup at all? I think I found some consistencies in the research. Dansby Swanson - 23 - SS - Atlanta Braves 2017 Stats*: .139/.162/.194 (.357) in 74 plate appearances over 18 games. Swanson was the first overall draft pick in the 2015 draft out of Vanderbilt. Inexplicably, Dave Stewart decided to trade the Georgia native to Atlanta (with two others) for Shelby Miller. The Braves called him up late last year. He played in 38 big league games, he hit .302/.361/.442 (.803) in 145 plate appearances. He had 34 strikeouts, but he also walked 13 times. Part of his struggles this season can be tied to his strikeout-to-walk rate. He has 19 strikeouts to go with just two walks. He began the 2017 season as Atlanta’s second-place hitter. He stayed in that spot for the first 14 games. He then got a day off. At that point he was in a 3-33 slump which dropped his average to .131. When he returned to the lineup this past weekend, he had been moved to the eighth spot. Swanson seems to be taking the struggles in stride. When he was given his one game off, he told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution: “When you’re going like this each at-bat is kind of a battle,” Swanson said. “I was just talking to some people about how, it’s like, they throw those perfect breaking balls on certain counts and they make certain pitches, and then when you do hit balls hard people seem to be standing right there and stuff. But you’ve got to do your best to not let that affect you — just because you’re not getting the result doesn’t mean you’re not doing the right thing. “This game, it’s hard. It’s just a weird concept because you can execute everything perfectly and not be successful, whereas in football if you run a play perfectly you’re going to be successful, or in basketball if you shoot the perfect shot it’s going in. It’s just funny how, in this (sport), you can take the perfect swing and it doesn’t matter. Nothing’s really in your control except your immediate action.” Tim Anderson - 24 - SS - Chicago White Sox 2017 Stats*: .179/.203/.254 (.457) in 69 plate appearances Anderson was the White Sox first-round pick in 2013 out of Community College. He was called up in mid-June and played in 99 games. He hit .283/.306/.432 (.738). Those that have watched the White Sox since his call up know what his issue can be. Throw him a breaking ball outside of the strike zone, and he’ll probably still swing at it. Last year, he saw just 3.7 pitches per plate appearance. This year, that number is down to just 3.3. But the White Sox obviously see him as a future star and leader on the team. . This spring, they locked him up to a six year, $25 million contract. With a couple of option years, the value of the contract could exceed $51 million. So, he’s probably got some leeway. He began the season by batting second the first seven games, and then he moved up to the leadoff spot for three games. After a day off, he has hit second four times and led off twice. Through 16 games, Rich Renteria has chosen to keep Anderson near the top of the order. Orlando Arcia - 22 - SS - Milwaukee Brewers 2017 Stats*: .210/.234/.306 (.541) in 64 plate appearances over the first 18 games Arcia was signed out of Venezuela. He is the younger brother of former Twins outfielder Oswaldo Arcia. He is known for his premiere defense at shortstop, which may surprise those of us who watched Oswaldo out in the outfield in Target Field. He was called up late last year and played in 55 games for the Brewers last year. He hit .219/.273/.358 (.631). The Brewers have him up primarily for his defense and are letting him grow into the offensive side of the game. That is shown, in part, by the fact that they have had him hitting eighth or even ninth in their lineup in each game he’s played. Brewers manager Craig Counsell recently told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: "Development is not a straight line," Counsell said. "Failure is part of it. You don’t know for who and when, but you know that there’s going to be struggles, and you have to get through those times. That’s when most of the learning happens and the biggest adjustments are going to happen." "Look, I don’t want to see guys struggle. It’s hard seeing guys struggle. But I know also a lot of good can come from the struggle, and that’s what I always remain hopeful about." Jose Peraza - 22 - 2B/SS - Cincinnati Reds 2017 Stats*: .216/.256/.257 (.513) in 78 plate appearances over 18 games Peraza actually made his MLB debut in 2015 when he played in seven games for the Dodgers before being involved in his second, three-team trade in his young career. It sent him to Cincinnati. In 2016, he hit .324/.352/.411 (.762) in 72 games and 256 plate appearances. He played around the infield, but mostly in the two middle spots. This year, he is off to a slow start. However, in all 18 games he has played, he has hit first or second. Chad Dotson from Redleg Nation doesn’t think that Peraza is in any danger of a demotion: As far as I know, there has been no public discussion about either sending Peraza down or dropping him in the lineup. In my opinion, it is highly unlikely that Peraza will be demoted. He’s still just 22 years old, and current management has reason to be patient with the young guys at the heart of the rebuild. This is a season for the Reds to see who they have and what they can do. Peraza will get a much longer leash than 3 weeks. (Plus, his defense has been good.) Trevor Story - 24 - SS - Colorado Rockies 2017 Stats*: .169/.270/.415 (.686) in 74 plate appearances over 19 games Story was the big story early last season. In his MLB debut last year, he hit two home runs. He had six home runs in his first four games. Unfortunately, his season ended after just 97 games due to injury, but he finished by hitting 21 doubles and 27 home runs. He hit .272/.341/.567 (.909). So, it’s clear that he isn’t off to the same kind of start as he was last year. However, he has continued to show the home run power. Rockies fans are surprised when Story hits a single so far this year. He started the season hitting fifth, and batted fourth or fifth each of the first seven games. Since then, he has hit primarily sixth, but also has three games where he’s batted seventh as well. So for now, he has been dropped a little in the lineup. Carlos Correa - 23 - SS - Houston Astros 2017 Stats*: .197/.286/.295 (.581) with 70 plate appearances in 16 games. Correa was the top pick in the 2012 MLB draft, one pick ahead of Byron Buxton. Correa was called up halfway through the 2015 season and hit 22 homers on his way to the AL Rookie of the Year. In 2016, he hit .274/.361/.451 (.811) with 36 doubles, 20 homers and 96 RBI. 2017 hasn’t started out real well for Correa. However, he has been the Astros cleanup hitter each game that he’s played this season, and that probably won’t change anytime soon. SUMMARY So what have we noticed from reviewing the six players above? Maybe you’ll think through some more, but here are a few things I noticed. If you go on Twitter or read comments sections, there are two distinct groups of fans for each of these players. There are the ones who want a guy demoted (or even just given up on), and there are those that will support said player as long as it takes. Here’s a good example from Twitter regarding Dansby Swanson: 2.) Defense - you’ll notice that each of these players plays an up-the-middle position, and plays it well. While Buxton is the only outfielder, most of them are shortstops. Each is known for being a plus defender. 3.) Byron Buxton was the Twins #3 hitter on Opening Day. Having watched him play this spring, it was an aggressive, but understandable plan. Not because of any numbers he put up in spring training, but because of the quality of the at-bats that he was having. After struggling for five games, Paul Molitor moved him down the lineup and he’s primarily been batting ninth since. He’s been pinch-hit for three times and sat out a couple of games too. Swanson stayed in the second spot for 14 games before being moved down this weekend. Story has dropped from five to seven. But the rest have stayed in their spots. 4.) Online searching tells me that none of the other players are in any danger of being demoted, at least not in the near future. 5.) Patience is what is being preached. That’s not new. Player development is not linear. Not everyone develops at the same time. Sometimes being optioned helps. Sometimes a player needs to figure things out in the big leagues. 6.) Walk and strikeout rates are pretty consistently telling in seeing player struggles. I don’t think that surprises anyone. Players that have a better control of the strike zone have a tendency to avoid longer slumps, and they don’t get themselves out by swinging at pitches outside the strike zone. Now, we don’t watch these other teams play as often as we watch the Twins. It’s also pretty certain from the stats and the strikeout rates that Buxton’s struggles have exceeded even those mentioned above. Personally, I would like to see the Twins continue to play Buxton most every day and let him try to work through this. Finally, here is a list of the 27 players who entered Monday’s game with a sub-.200 batting average. Jose Reyes - .104 Ryan Schimpf - .109 Jose Bautista - .132 Devon Travis - .136 Dansby Swanson - .139 Danny Valencia - .145 Curtis Granderson - .149 Travis Jankowski - .160 Mike Napoli - .162 Erick Aybar - .164 Trevor Story - .169 Alex Gordon - .169 Dexter Fowler - .169 Maikel Franco - .171 Scott Schebler - .175 Austin Hedges - .175 Tim Anderson - .179 Brett Gardner - .182 Jonathan Villar - .185 Rougned Odor - .187 Alcides Escobar - .190 Danny Espinosa - .191 Domingo Santana - .193 Adonis Garcia - .194 Justin Bour - .194 Carlos Gonzalez - .197 Carlos Correa - .197 It’s an interesting mix, isn’t it? There are young players and there are old players. There are some former All-Stars, and there are guys you had to look up to see what team they even play for. It’s easy to jump to conclusions early in a season even though we all know it’s a very small sample. But with Buxton, the question that Derek Falvey and Thad Levine have to be asking themselves is: What is best for Byron Buxton’s long-term future? Learn in the big leagues or learn in AAA Rochester. The problem is, there is no way to know which answer is more correct than the other. Share your thoughts. Click here to view the article

Yes, a lot of those guys will have a certain $ value in mind to sign, so unless they have a deal in place for that number, once they fall past the 2nd or 3rd round, they're going to college for 3 years. Someone may take a flyer on them in the last 10-15 rounds, like the Twins did with Logan Shore out of high school, but they might as well go to school.

Catcher is the position he's probably played the least, even in college, but it's the position that he wants to play. In college, he played 3B, 1B, RF, and a little catcher. He's got work to do, as you would expect, but he'll work. He proved that this past offseason, so I think he's got a chance.

Yup, and they're all (except Del Rosario) in their first full professional season).

You might have forgotten that he started back in Cedar Rapids because he was moving to starting. A And, you also forgot to not that he posted a 4.7 ERA and a 1.46 WHIP in his 1/2 of a season with the Miracle. And I think the Twins and scouts and opponents' scouts would say that the Twins promote their "prospects" at a pretty good rate.

Yeah, I agree... video doesn't show it clearly, but Rortvedt's reaction tells me that there was no foul ball and he missed it.

He wasn't... He pitched - not too well - today.

This was the first time I remember it. This is what made it take off... I think it's hilarious... http://m.mlb.com/video/topic/6479266/v31157945/nlcs-gm6-van-slyke-kelly-start-game-with-standoff

Pretty sure he won't be sent down. In fact, I would be surprised if he isn't brought up to AAA very soon.

Post anthem standoff... the players stand outside the dugout, at attention,. When the anthem is done, Melotakis and the guy from Biloxi stayed still. The one that gives in and moves and goes to the dugout first loses. It's funny to watch, but obviously the game has to start.

I found an update explaining the ejection and included it in the article.

It was a busy night in the Twins minor league system. One starting pitcher recorded a career-high in strikeouts. Six hitters recorded three hits on the day as well. There were two one-run games, one of which finished in 12 innings with a walkoff. Hey the Twins beat Justin Verlander on Friday night which is a good reminder that in this great game of baseball, anything can happen.Continue on to find out all the specifics on a busy night in the Twins farm system. Be sure to go to the Minor League forum and check out the Adopt-a-Prospect. We’d love to have you adopt a Twins prospect or three and follow them throughout the season. RED WINGS REPORT Rochester 3, Charlotte 2 Box Score Jason Wheeler has never been described as a strikeout pitcher, but seemingly each year he reaches double digits in strikeouts once. He did so once each year from 2012 through 2015. He didn’t have a ten strikeout game in 2016, but on Friday night the left-hander struck out a career-high 11 batters in seven innings to improve to 2-1 on the season. He gave up two runs on five hits and walked two batters. Drew Rucinski got the first two outs of the eighth inning on strikeouts. Buddy Boshers recorded the third out of the inning. Alex Wimmers recorded his first save of the season with a scoreless ninth frame. The Red Wings tied the game at two in the fifth inning. A wild pitch on a strikeout with the bases loaded allowed the first run to score. Next, Matt Hague grounded out to score the game-tying run. Then in the eighth inning, Kennys Vargas walked for the second time. Bengie Gonzalez pinch ran for him. Daniel Palka doubled him to third base, and Leonardo Reginnato drove him in with a sacrifice fly. Reginnato went 2-3. JB Shuck went 2-4 with his third double. Palka and John Ryan Murphy added doubles. Former Twins starter Mike Pelfrey was supposed to start for Charlotte. Instead, he was called up and will make a start for the White Sox this weekend. CHATTANOOGA CHATTER Chattanooga 6, Biloxi 3 Box Score Chattanooga was able to end their series against the Biloxi Shuckers with a nice win. The Lookouts got the majority of their offense from their top two hitters. Nick Gordon went 3-5 with his second double and three RBIs. In the sixth inning with the game tied at three, he hit a bases loaded single. He tried to stretch it into a double but was thrown out at second. In the meantime, the third runner scored all the way from first giving Gordon three RBI on that single. The second-spot hitter was Engelb Vielma. He went 3-5 with two RBIs. He gave the Lookouts the early lead when he hit a two-run single in the third inning. The other Lookouts run scored on an RBI single from Ryan Walker in the fourth inning. LaMonte Wade went 2-3 with a walk. Levi Michael, who made another start in center field, went 0-1 and walked twice. Paul Clemens was back on the mound for the Lookouts. The veteran right-hander gave up three runs (one earned) on three hits in six innings. He walked four and struck out seven. Todd Van Steensel came on and worked 2.1 scoreless innings. He gave up three hits, but no walks and struck out four. John Curtiss recorded the final two outs to earn his second save of the season. May have to do a little digging, but lefty Mason Melotakis was ejected from the game in the first inning. UPDATE: MIRACLE MATTERS Ft. Myers 10, Dunedin 4 Box Score A five-run third inning gave the Miracle a lead. They kept adding to it including three runs in the ninth inning to claim a big win. The bats have continued to hit after a very slow start. Ehire Adrianza played in his first game on rehab assignment. He started at shortstop and went 3-5 with a stolen base and three runs scored. Max Murphy was also 3-5. Zander Wiel hit his fourth and fifth doubles and drove in three runs. Nelson Molina went 2-4 with his first triple and two RBI. Chris Paul had just one hit, but his three-run homer was the big blow in that third inning. Keaton Steele was back on the mound. The right-hander gave up four runs on ten hits and a walk in six innings. He struck out four on his way to his first win of the season. Michael Theofanopoulos struck out four batters over two scoreless innings. Jonny Drozd came on and got the final three outs. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 4, Kane County 3 (12 innings) Box Score Travis Blankenhorn led off the bottom of the 12th inning with a walk. Two wild pitches advanced Blankenhorn to third base. After Lewin Diaz was intentionally walks, Jaylin Davis singled in Blankenhorn, ending a long night in Cedar Rapids with a 4-3 Kernels win. Blankenhorn had the big hit early in the game when his double scored two runs for the Kernels. Jermaine Palacios went 3-6 with his second double. Brandon Lopez was 3-5 in the game. Davis went 2-6. Sean Poppen was back on the mound and provided the Kernels with another quality start. The right-hander from Harvard gave up three runs (two earned) on six hits and a walk in six innings. He struck out seven. Logan Lombana struck out four over 2.2 scoreless innings. Thomas Hackimer picked up the win with 3.1 scoreless innings, with three strikeouts. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Jason Wheeler, Rochester Red Wings Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Nick Gordon, Chattanooga Lookouts SATURDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Rochester @ Charlotte (6:05 CST) - RHP Aaron Slegers Tennessee @ Chattanooga - (6:15 CST) - RHP Kohl Stewart Ft. Myers @ Dunedin (5:30 CST) - RHP Randy LeBlanc Kane County @ Cedar Rapids (5:05 CST) - LHP Domenick Carlini Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss Friday night’s games. Click here to view the article

I encourage you to check out Jake Depue’s weekly Mining The Minors article on 1500ESPN.com. In it, he provides updates on several of the Twins top prospects that he finds intriguing. This week, he asks if it’s time to call up Daniel Palka. At Twins Daily, we’ll keep updating you on the top prospects, but you will also be able to learn more about some lesser-known prospects or at least guys who maybe aren’t being talked about as much as they deserve.In today’s article, I’m going to write about one hitter from each of the Twins affiliates who is off to a good start without much fanfare. Rochester Red Wings IF Matt Hague In spring training, the thought was about how much Byungho Park did to earn an Opening Day job with the Twins. Park is hurt, and now the favorite to be called up if (or when?) the Twins jump back to 12 pitchers has to be Kennys Vargas. If it was me, I would give serious consideration to calling up Mitch Garver since he can play first base and also catch, and he’s hitting well. But the unsung guy all along has been Matt Hague. The 31-year-old was the International League MVP two years ago with the Blue Jays organization. Last year, he played in Japan. The Twins signed him to a minor league deal with a spring training invite. He was one of the last players sent down at the end of camp. In 47 plate appearances this spring, Hague hit .349/.429/.558 (.987) with six doubles and a home run. He went to Rochester, and through his first 13 games and 58 plate appearances, he is hitting .353/.431/.451 (.882) with two doubles and a homer. He’s been a factor in the middle of the Red Wings lineup. While it remains unlikely he will be called up, he is off to a good start and warrants discussion. Chattanooga Lookouts - OF Edgar Corcino I’ve been a fan of Edgar Corcino, the player, since first seeing him at spring training in Ft. Myers in 2015. He was one of the better athletes that I saw. Still just 24, Corcino has been in pro ball since the Tigers drafted him in the 26th round of that draft out of Puerto Rico. He spent four seasons in the Tigers organization. In 2013, he played in the independent leagues. The Bayamon, Puerto Rico, native works out in the offseason with Jose Berrios. The Twins took a chance on him before the 2014 season and he has been solid since. He split the 2016 season between Ft. Myers and Chattanooga. After hitting .266 (.760) in 74 games in Ft. Myers, he hit .284 (.754) in 50 games in Chattanooga. Corcino is capable of playing all three outfield positions well. He has good speed and a strong, accurate arm. Last Friday, he singled in his first at-bat and sprained his ankle. He returned to the lineup on Tuesday. He is currently hitting .308/325/385 (.710) with three doubles. While his ceiling is likely not that of an MLB starting outfielder, his skill set and all-around game make him a possibility as a fourth or fifth outfielder. Ft. Myers Miracle - IF/OF Alex Perez Alex Perez was a four-year starter at shortstop for Virginia Tech. The Twins drafted him in the 23rd round in 2015. He began 2016 in extended spring training. He moved up to Cedar Rapids, where he sporadically played. In his 18 games there, however, he hit .262/.403/.311 (.714). He moved up to Ft. Myers and actually played quite frequently. In 69 games with the Miracle, he hit .242/.345/.273 (.618). The slick fielder can play all over the field. He has played second base and third base this season along with left field. While he’s not a big guy, so don’t expect a lot of slugging, he showed an ability to really control the strike zone. That hasn’t turned into walks so far this season, but he has been very good. He started the season with a nine-game hitting streak, and he has multiple hits in six games. Despite on 0-5 on Thursday, he is still hitting .322/.365/.407 (.772) with three doubles and a triple this season. There is value in guys who can play good defense at several positions. There is also value in guys who put the ball in play and know the strike zone. Cedar Rapids Kernels - SS Jermaine Palacios A year ago at this time, Palacios was a highly-touted prospect. In some local and national rankings, he was a Top 10 Twins prospect. He was 19 years old and coming off a 2015 season when he combined to hit .370/.398/.540 (.938) with 23 doubles, four triples and three home runs between the GCL and Elizabethton. However, last year, he really struggled early in the season in Cedar Rapids. In 71 games, he hit just .222/.276/.287 (.564) with eight doubles, three triples and a homer. His season came to an early end when he was hit by a pitch and broke his hand. Palacios returned to Iowa this spring and his start was much, much better. On Thursday night, Palacios hit a single, double and triple which helped raise his slash line to .388/.444/.490 (.934). For much of this group, the ceiling is that of a role player, but Palacios has the upside to be a MLB shortstop, and he’s certainly one to watch this year and beyond. ------------------------------------ So there you have it. A quick look at four minor leaguers who are, for whatever reason, not at the forefront of Twins prospect conversation. Who are some of the other Twins minor league hitters that you’re interested in? We’ll do this from time to time, discussing minor leaguers who deserve to be discussed. Though I’m looking to you to help me come up with a catchy title for this series… Leave your suggestions or ideas in the comments below. Click here to view the article

I noticed that last night and forgot to change it... Just corrected it. Thank you!

Yeah, he is another that had a one-year shot at starting, which he did before his TJ surgery in college. Once he moved to the bullpen, he took off. He touches 97, sits 94-95. He has good other stuff too. He moved up mine, but yes, I think he's legit, and I think the Twins do too.